Jackpot
by lilmssomething
Summary: Edward Cullen is an Oscar nominated, superstar hottie. Bella Swan is a small town girl who wins it big in the lottery. When their paths cross, will they fall in love?
1. Prologue

EPOV

"Edward! EDWARD!!!! Edward, over here! I love you, Edward!"

The screaming and camera flashes started as soon as I stepped out of the black limousine.

"Marry me, Edward! I'm over here!"

I cringed inwardly as another marriage proposal came my way. My black sense of humour often made me wonder what would happen if one day, when a screaming fan asked me to marry them, I strode over to them, gave them my best Rhett Butler look, swept them up into my arms and said yes, then carried them off into the sunset. Would they be so happy about that? When they find out I'm not really Captain O'Connor, or Lucas Miller, or any of the other characters I portrayed on screen? Instead, just a messy, coffee addicted, pepperoni pizza loving guy who prefers lazing on his sofa in his pajamas, watching bad made-for-TV films to five-star hotels and film premieres.

Emmett would tackle me to the ground before I got within five metres of the 'lucky girl', I thought wryly. That was the trouble with having your best friend as your manager. He knew the look on your face when you're about to do something stupid, like declare your undying love for a fan as some bizarre social experiment, or pulling the wig off your eighth Grade teachers head with a stick whilst hiding up a tree.

But none of that mattered in those few minutes. The only thing that mattered was that I put on the Edward Cullen "I'm too sexy to smile at the camera like a normal person" look and strolled down the red carpet like a star, flirting with TV presenters, giving the paps a good shot for the next day's tabloids and signing a few autographs for the screaming crowd so they think it's worth being crammed in with the million other girls for 10 hours straight.

A few steps away from the limo, I gave the cameras my first sexy pout of the night. My sister Alice laughs every time she sees a picture of it and calls practically everyone I know to tell them I've been practising my "Blue Steel" face. The girls always go wild for it, so I guess it's probably a good thing to have friends and family who keep my head from over-inflating.

I took another few steps and found myself face-to-face with Tanya Denali, entertainment reporter for Blush magazine. As embarrassingly over the top as the woman was, I had to give her a few minutes or Emmett would shoot me later on. The Blush demographic was teenage girls, 15-19 years old, interested in make-up, hair, clothes and boys. I couldn't complain. These were the girls who's support got me cast in films, invited onto talk shows and even (although I shuddered to think of it) my very own Edward doll. I owed them a whole lot, so spending a couple of minutes refusing the reporters advances wouldn't kill me.

"Edward, you look so hot tonight!" Tanya gushed, looking like she was on the verge of squealing herself.

"Thanks Tanya, you look...glowing as usual," I replied. Yeah, glowing orange with fake tan.

"Oh my gosh, Edward, are you, like, so excited to be here? I mean, this must be such a huge night for you!" Yes, she was officially squealing now.

"It is an exciting night Tanya. After so many months of hard work, Light Persuasion is finally here. I really hope you guys enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed making it," The crowd of girls behind Tanya screamed louder.

"Well according to rumour, you had a lot of fun during filming...especially with your co-star, Rosalie Hale..." she trailed off suggestively, wiggling her eyebrows. I chuckled, wondering what Emmett would have to say about the old rumours cropping up again. He'd probably just laugh at my discomfort. He and Rosalie were perfectly content in their relationship, although few people were aware of it.

"All just rumours, sorry Tanya. Rosalie is a great girl, an amazing actress, but we're just good friends," I said firmly. Mistake.

"So does that mean the gorgeous Edward Cullen is still single?" she asked breathily, looking up at me from under her eyelashes in a move that I'm sure was supposed to look sexy. I bit back a retort.

"Still single," I raised my hands in apology. "I guess I still haven't found the right girl,"

"Did you hear that girls? Still single!!" Tanya shouted into the crowd. "So tell me then, what does the right girl have to do to get your attention, Edward?" She actually stepped closer to me and pressed the hand that wasn't holding the microphone up against my chest. I fought the grimace. Really, how many times did I have to give this girl a hint? My mother raised me to be a gentleman, but honestly, sooner or later, Tanya Denali was going to get a sharp set-down.

"Well, I suppose I'm always intrigued by girls with a bit of mystery," I smiled sweetly at her. "And I prefer brunettes," I added, taking pointed look at her perfectly straight strawberry blonde hair. Half the girls in the crowd wailed in disappointment while the other half screamed even louder.

"Edward, I have brown hair! I HAVE BROWN HAIR!!!!" One girl screamed at me, an almost deranged look on her face. She was clutching fistfuls of her hair, like she was about to rip it out and hand it over. Insane. I knew Emmett would not be happy with that comment later on. Never reveal anything specific, it will only alienate certain fans.

"But surely variety is the spice of life," Tanya said coyly, running her eyes over me and tracing a long, fake fingernail over my chest. I grabbed her hand quickly, before she could get too carried away, and put it over her other hand on the microphone.

"That's what I've heard, but I'm a one-woman kind of guy," I said quickly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I see..." I trailed off and gestured randomly behind me, not sure who I could pretend to go over to, and started walking away.

"Thanks for talking to us, Edward!" Tanya called behind me. I half turned to wave, only to see her put her hand up to her ear and mouth the words "Call me." Yeah, right, when hell freezes over.

I continued my walk down the carpet, giving looks to the cameras, joking around with my co-stars and signing autographs.

A one-woman kind of guy.

Yeah, that was me alright, I thought bitterly. Or, as Emmett liked to remind me, more like a no-woman kind of guy at the moment. It was alright for him, he had found the love of his life and although I didn't envy him the girl, I envied the life they had together. Apart, obviously, from the fact that they had to hide it from the world. Personally, I don't know how he did it. I hadn't found her yet, but out there somewhere was an incredible girl, who didn't care about the fame or the money or the Edward Cullen hair. And when I found her, I would spoil her rotten and tell the whole world how much I loved her.

Oh yes. I was that kind of boy.


	2. Birthday

BPOV

"Happy Birthday Bella!" I groaned, inwardly cursing whoever it was that first decided birthdays should be celebrated.

So far this morning, I had already had to suffer through my father's attempt at a special birthday breakfast (after 23 years without my mother cooking for him, you would have thought he could handle toast, but apparently not), my boyfriend Jacob's promises that he had a special surprise for me that night and my mother's phone call to check that I'd liked her present. And now, at only 9am, without even my second coffee of the day, I had to put up with the unwanted and irritating attentions of Mike Newton.

"Are you having a great day?" Mike asked enthusiastically, already wearing the hideous yellow vest that we were forced to wear as employees of his parents outdoors store.

"Mike, it's not even 9am, how can I possibly be enjoying or not enjoying the day?" I asked.

"Come on, Bella, everyone enjoys their birthday!" Mike exclaimed. I needed to get a coffee soon, it sounded like Mike was already on his third or fourth, and the only way I could put up with him on a coffee high was if I was in the same state. I grumbled something incoherently and grabbed my own vest from under the counter.

"Good morning!" Jessica Stanley called in a sing-song voice as she walked into the store. I could see her clutching a pile of magazines, an apple and a cardboard try with three Starbucks coffee cups. Her Saturday morning bribe so that we could do all the work while she stood at the counter reading about the hot new celebrity who was caught out having a "secret rendezvous" with the hot new singer. Today I couldn't care though. As long as she gave me a coffee, she could do whatever she wanted.

"Morning Bella," she said with a grin as I took the coffees from her and put them on the bench. "I know you don't like your birthday, but I have brought in an extra special treat for you today," she narrowed her eyes looking mischievous, then flipped the magazines around so I could see the front cover.

"Edward Cullen!" she squealed, so high pitched that I probably wouldn't have understood her had it not been for the face on the cover of the magazine.

Edward Cullen. I groaned. Today was going to be worse than normal.

"Come on now, Bella," she said reprovingly. I'm surprised she didn't waggle her finger at me while she was at it. "I know it, you know it, Mike knows it. Edward Cullen is the hottest guy in the universe. Just admit that you're as madly in love with him as the rest of us are and come over here so we can drool at him together," she laughed. I rolled my eyes in response, but six years of living in Forks had made me well aware that she wouldn't give in until I showed the appropriate amount of enthusiasm for this guy who a) I would never meet, b) wouldn't look twice at me if we did meet and c) probably slept with every single Jessica-clone groupie out there.

I peeked over her shoulder at the magazine. Admittedly, the guy was hot. More than that, he had this unbearably sexy pouting look on his face in some of the pictures that made him look like a much better version of Derek Zoolander.

"Mmm, he looks great, Jess," I said, but I just couldn't get the enthusiasm into my voice.

"I know, right?" Jess said as she flipped the page. "Drool," she said again.

My breath caught as I looked at the full page photo. It was black and white, Edward Cullen was sitting nestled under a blanket staring off into the distance, with a bottle of Corona in one hand and a cigarette in his mouth. Normally I hated smoking but on him...wow. I couldn't breathe. Jess looked up at me with a sly grin.

"Look at you," she said suggestively. "Maybe Jacob has a little more competition than he thought," she winked at me.

"Come on Jess, it's not like he has to worry about Edward Cullen," I scoffed. Jess flipped the page again. Edward Cullen was sitting on a piano stool, leaning away from the piano that was for some inconceivable reason on a grassy cliff top overlooking the sea. He was reaching behind him to pick up some sheet music and his white dress shirt was coming untucked, his tie was blowing in the wind and his suit jacket was pulling apart, clearly showing the contours of his body. Although the photograph was black and white, you could almost see the strange glitter of his green eyes, the bronze colour of his hair, messed up in his trademark JBF style.

Mmmm, I could imagine lying in bed, Edward Cullen's face looking down at me, me running my hands through that hair and giving it a reason to be so messy.

Ugh, stop it! I thought, snapping out of my reverie. God, I was beginning to sound like such a...girl.

I shook my head clear of all Edward-Cullen-bed-hair fantasies when the bell over the door announced the arrival of the day's first customer. I straightened up, my cheeks a furious shade of red, and tried to at least give the impression of professionalism, but Mrs Kendall had already seen what we were looking at.

"Edward Cullen?" she asked, bending her head over the magazine with Jessica. "Well, he's much too young for me, of course...but my, if any of my girls brought him home I wouldn't complain," she gushed. I left her and Jessica to the delights of a man none of us would ever meet and went to serve her husband.

The rest of the morning passed without any event, until Jessica suddenly squealed again in excitement.

"Bella, Bella!" she called out to me, waving me over. "Look!" I looked down at the page, not sure what I was supposed to be looking for. It was an article, possibly on Edward Cullen, but the page she held up only had small writing, with a few comments in larger writing between the columns.

"Um, what am I supposed to be looking at, Jess?" I asked hesitantly.

"Right there!" Jess was pointing at the page, her eyes wide with expectation.

"Edward is appearing in Light Persuasion, at cinemas now? You already know that, Jess," I said, confused.

"Not that!" she sighed and impatiently turned the magazine back to herself. "'At the premiere for his latest film, Light Persuasion, Edward revealed exactly what he is looking for in a girlfriend. "I'm always intrigued by girls with a bit of mystery," he said, with a seductive look at our reporter Tanya Denali. "And I prefer brunettes,"'" Jess practically screamed the last part.

"So?"

"So? SO?! So I am brunette!" Jessica screamed at me in excitement.

"Sheesh, calm down Jess. I'm brunette too and you don't see me throwing a fit," I turned to walk back towards the lunch room.

"Bella, you don't understand! When I meet him, I've already got one up on so many other girls out there!" she exclaimed.

"When you meet him? Uh, Jess, don't you think that's a little presumptive?" I asked.

"Of course I'm going to meet him, Bella," Jess said patiently, like she was talking to a three year old. "I have to! We're meant to be together,"

"Yeah, whatever," I laughed at the star struck look on her face. "Where are you planning on meeting him? Do you really think he's sitting in a five star hotel somewhere, thinking 'I know, I'll go Forks for some hiking equipment'? And then he'll walk through the door, fall madly in love with you and your brown hair and you'll live happily ever after?" Jessica pouted.

"It could happen," she said, almost to herself. The bell over the shop door clanged at that moment and we both jumped a mile and stared at the door, eyes wide.

"I'm back from lunch," Mike called out to us as he walked through the door. The look of disappointment on Jess's face was so funny I literally had to hold the counter to stop myself falling to the ground laughing.

~*~

That night, I was washing plates from Charlie and my dinner, when I felt a pair of strong hands wrap themselves around my waist. I jumped a mile and somehow managed to end up on the floor, dropping the plate with a resounding crash. I looked up to see Jacob Black, my boyfriend, gazing down at me, a look of surprise on his face.

"Are you at least going to help me up?" I demanded angrily. He snickered and reached his hand out, hauling me to my feet.

"Thanks," I muttered, wiping my wet and soapy hands on my jeans. I turned back to pick up the plate I'd dropped.

"Hey, don't I get a kiss? It's bad enough that I don't get to take you out on your birthday," he moved to stand behind me and nuzzled into the back of my neck. I felt a twinge of annoyance, but turned around and gave him a quick peck on the lips, before trying to turn back to the sink.

"Uh-uh," Jacob said in my ear and, with his hands on my waist, turned me back around to face him. He was so strong there was no point trying to resist. His mouth moved down onto mine and he was so tall I had to tilt my head right back so he could reach. What was supposed to be a quick "Hello, how was your day?" kiss started to turn into more as Jacob moved one hand to my back and pulled close against him. I felt his lips push harder as he tried to part mine. I tried to wriggle out of his grasp.

"What's wrong?" he asked, confused.

"Charlie's in the next room, he could come in at any minute," I explained, blushing.

"He's watching the game, trust me, he's not going anywhere. And besides, it's not like he doesn't know I'm going to kiss my girlfriend on her birthday," he grinned at me and tried to kiss me again.

"Jacob!" I complained again. I saw the look of hurt cross his face as I put my hands against his chest to push him away. I turned back to the sink, my cheeks flushing bright red.

"I don't get it," Jacob muttered behind me.

"I'm sorry Jake, I need to get this done so I can get ready for this ridiculous party Jess is throwing," I muttered.

"Whatever, Bella," Jacob said. I'd always been a terrible liar. "I'm going to watch the game with Charlie," he said and walked out of the kitchen. I let out a breath I didn't even know I'd been holding and felt the muscles in my back slowly relax. I took a few deep breaths, holding onto the sink for support.

I didn't know what was wrong with me. Jake and I had been inseparable practically since the day I moved to Forks six years earlier. He had helped me through a really rough time, when I left Renee and my stepfather Phil to move back in with the father I hardly knew. I was really distant when I first arrived, damaged goods I suppose, and Jake took care of me and brought me back to life. We hung out all the time although it wasn't until a year or two later that we finally told each other how we felt. Since then, Jacob had been my boyfriend and it didn't occur to anyone in town that we wouldn't end up married with 2.5 kids and a house by La Push beach.

It was, however, starting to occur to me.

I couldn't put my finger on when it started exactly. I just didn't feel the spark anymore. More and more lately, I was beginning to dread the moment when he would come towards me and kiss my lips, or rub his hands down my back and over by butt. I was thinking of more and more excuses as well - I couldn't stay over at his because I needed to feed Charlie, I was spending some time with Angela while she went through some relationship difficulties with Ben (completely non-existent, they were the happiest couple in the world, but Jacob didn't know that), I sprained my ankle (sadly, completely feasible), I had to make a last minute shopping trip to Port Angeles (I don't know how I pulled that one off), and of course, the widely-used 'I have a headache' excuse.

I had no idea why I was making all these excuses. All I knew was that Jacob was irritating me constantly and I was sniping at him for no reason. I used to be so proud of his business, setting up his own mechanic shop here is Forks, but now I got really annoyed when he would come into the kitchen with grease all over his jeans and hands, expecting to be fed.

I was incredibly confused, because I'd spent the last however many years knowing that one day we would settle down together. It never crossed my mind to look for anything more because my future was set. But now? Now...I found myself looking up the price of flights to New York, or London, or even Australia, but my meagre savings would never cover flights and accommodation. I found myself day dreaming about characters from my novel but I'd never have the courage to put pen to paper. I was driving once, twice a week to Seattle, Port Angeles or even Portland, just to get out of Forks, but I always had to come back.

But how could I explain all of this to Jacob? I couldn't stand to see him in pain, and I knew that's what I would cause if I tried to tell him how I was feeling. He would look at me with those adoring eyes and tell me that he loved me and I would break his heart. I couldn't do that.

I was chicken, I know. Part of me even secretly hoped that I would catch him with another girl, or he would lash out at me in anger, so that I had an excuse to leave. But Jake would never do anything to hurt me. So I had a choice.

Spend the rest of my life with a great friend, who I no longer loved but who loved me with all his heart.

Or break the heart of the only guy who had ever loved me.

I was trapped. Trapped in my relationship with Jacob, trapped in my father's house, trapped in my shitty job, trapped in this stupid town.

It was time to fly.


	3. Break up

**A/N – Thanks to everyone who has been reading so far! Please, please, please review with any suggestions or ideas or comments so I know where I'm going wrong and what I'm doing right!**

**Disclaimer – It's obvious what I do and don't own, but just so we're clear, all the Twilight stuff belongs to Stephanie Meyer.**

BPOV

"Hey Birthday Girl," Angela said slyly, sneaking up behind me.

"Angela!" I gasped in relief. "Thank God, finally someone I actually know!"

"Jacob is here," Angela pointed out.

"Oh, right..." I trailed off in confusion. I forgot that my own boyfriend was at my birthday party. What kind of a girl was I? Luckily, Angela didn't seem to notice my confusion.

"Now Bella, I know you don't like presents..."

"Ang, you didn't! I said no presents,"

"It's okay, I only spent like five dollars,"

"That doesn't make it any better," I warned. I held out my hand though. I had learnt over the years to get it over with quickly. Angela smiled and dropped a little envelope into my hand.

"What's this?" I asked.

"You're supposed to unwrap it. That's why it's wrapped in the first place," Angela rolled her eyes. I tugged at the colourful paper and a thin slip of pink paper with numbers all over it fell into my hand.

"A lottery ticket?" I was confused.

"It's a huuuge jackpot tonight," Ang explained. "The winning ticket gets $40 million!"

I laughed. "And you think I'm going to win with this ticket?"

"You might..." Ang raised her eyebrows at me. "Just think what you could do with $40 million," she gushed.

I couldn't help it. I let my mind wander.

$40 million. A new life. I could have my own library. I could travel - New York, Paris, London - and not need to stay in dirty backpackers hostels. I could give up my job and finally write my own book. I saw myself wandering through streets in Paris, riding a gondola in Venice, reading a book with the

Sydney Harbour Bridge behind me. With $40 million I could hire somebody to do all my shopping for me.

I had never been materialistic before. I hadn't grown up with much - either with Renee or with Charlie - and that had never bothered me. I just didn't like expensive things.

But $40 million could buy me a new life. Hell, $40,000 could buy me a new life.

"Bella..." Ang crooned as she waved her hand in front of my blank gaze.

"Huh?"

"I was trying to get your attention for about five minutes there!" she giggled.

"Sorry," I muttered, my cheeks turning a dull red.

"Aww, you were thinking about Jake, weren't you?" Ang cooed. "That is so adorable,"

"Uh, yeah..." I replied.

And then it hit me. None of my day dreams had included Jacob.

I was never very good at making tough decisions. I ummed and ahhed over the choices for what seemed like eternity, but then, when I had made my decision, I stuck to it and I didn't waste time.

My decision was made. I didn't want to hurt him, but it was time for me to move on.

~*~

I had been looking for Jake for about 15 minutes when I finally saw him near the door.

"Jake!" I called out to him over the noise. His head shot up and he smirked at me, although he had the grace to look a bit embarrassed. He walked over to me, his hands held up acknowledging defeat.

"Okay, okay, I left for a few minutes," he smirked at me again. "But you'll forgive me when you find out that I just went to get your birthday present,"

"Ja-ake," I complained, dragging his name into two syllables.

"I'm not hearing it Bella, come out back with me now so I can tell you,"

"Tell me? You mean you can't give it to me?" But Jake just grabbed my hand and dragged me towards the backyard, running into the forest when we got outside. I felt the branches rushing past my face as Jake pulled me further and further into the forest.

"Do we need to go so far?" I asked, out of breath. Jake stopped running. Unfortunately I did not. My shoulder yanked painfully as Jacob held onto my hand and I fell to my knees.

"Damnit, Jake!" I said irritably. Jacob chuckled as I clambered to my knees, made considerably harder by the fact that he still hadn't released my hand. I snatched it away from him so I could brush the dirt off my jeans.

"Well?" I asked coldly. I knew I was being a bitch to Jacob, but I couldn't help it. Everything in my body was screaming at me to get away. Jacob moved a few steps closer and put his hands on my hips, looking deep into my eyes.

"Are you ready for your present?" he asked seriously. I tensed immediately, my head stretching back away from his face. I bit my lower lip and made a grumbling sound that he took for a yes. Jacob took a deep breath.

"Okay, here goes. Bella, will you marry me?"

I froze.

_Marriage._

_Wedding._

_Family._

_Marriage._

My neck was beginning to ache with the strain of holding it as far away from Jake as possible. I was sure he would be able to see the fear in my eyes, the desperate panic beginning to build in my chest, but it seemed he was too confident to doubt my response. He leaned in to kiss me. I couldn't move, until I felt his lips touch mine. I gasped, turned my head to the side since I couldn't pull it away any further.

"Sorry, I suppose I should wait for you to say yes," Jacob smirked, confident of my response.

"No!" I cried, before I could stop myself. A look of confusion crossed Jake's face.

"No? Oh, wait, of course I'm doing this all wrong," Jacob grinned and reached into his pocket, pulling out a ring. "Here," he grabbed my hand and tried to push the ring on to my fourth finger. I yanked my hand out of his.

"No," I gasped again.

"What do you mean, no?" Jacob asked, confused. "Aren't you supposed to say yes?"

"No," I said again, shaking my head. I couldn't think of anything else to say. Every fibre in my body was screaming that one word.

_No!_

"Hey, Bells, have I done this wrong? Did you imagine it differently?" Jake was honestly confused now, but he still didn't seem to get it. I just shook my head.

"Then what's wrong?" I finally found my voice.

"I can't marry you, Jake," I whispered. Now he seemed to begin to understand.

"That's okay," he said, obviously not meaning it. "There's no rush when we have all the time in the world," He rubbed my waist reassuringly and tried to hold my hand again to put the ring on it.

"No,"

"Why do you keep saying no?" Jake was getting irritated now.

"Jake, I'm so sorry. I can't do this anymore," I tried to pull away from him.

"Can't do what? Bells, I just said, we don't need to rush into the wedding,"

"It's not the wedding, Jake. It's us," I paused, feeling like each breath I dragged in burnt my throat. But I needed to say this. I had made my decision.

"I'm not in love with you anymore," I whispered. Jake stepped back involuntarily, like he'd been slapped.

"What?"

"I'm so sorry Jake. I just don't have the same feelings as I used to,"

"What are you saying? Maybe my proposing is a surprise for you, but believe me, I have always known this moment would come, since before we even started dating," All I could do was shake my head.

"So what are you saying, Bella? Are you breaking up with me?" I heard Jake's voice break with the pain I was causing. I nodded, staring at the ground. Jake ran his hands through his hair. Before I knew what he was doing, he had taken two large strides towards me, grabbed my wrists and kissed me, hard. I struggled but his grip was iron hard. He finally pulled away before giving me a searching look.

"Tell me you didn't feel anything!" he shouted at me, before kissing me again. I twisted and turned in his grasp.

"Jake, NO!" I screamed. He stared at me, his hands still tight on my wrists. "You're hurting me," I whispered. Jake's hands loosened, before dropping my wrists. He took a step backwards and just looked at me for a few minutes.

"The trail is just over there," he finally said, tonelessly. "You'll be able to get back to the house on your own," His eye met mine for a long second and I saw the pain in his eyes. Then he was gone, and I was all alone. I fell onto a large rock and sat, with my hands on my knees, gasping for breath.

I don't know how long I sat there, but eventually I heard someone calling my name. I stumbled my way to the trail and back towards the house. Angela and Mike were looking for me. I ducked behind a tree, but not before Ang had caught a glimpse of me.

"She's not up this way, she must be in the house somewhere," Ang said in her quiet way. I heard her lead Mike back down the trail. I leaned against the tree, breathing heavily. Thank God for Angela. A few minutes later, I heard her making her way back.

"Bella?" she called softly. I sighed and stepped around the tree. _Time to face the music. _ The look on Angela's face was a mixture of relief and sympathy.

"It's over?" she asked quietly.

"How did you know?" I croaked out.

"I've been expecting it for awhile," she admitted. She held her hand out to me. "I can smuggle you back home through the forest if you like?"

I took a deep breath. "No, I have to face it," I said resolutely. Ang just nodded and we began making our way back towards the house in silence. My mind was still going like a whirlwind. Just before we broke through the trees into the backyard, I stopped. I had to tell Angela what had happened. Someone had to know.

"Ang?" She looked up at me enquiringly. "Jake proposed," Ang stared at me for a long second.

"Did you make the right decision?" She asked. I held her eyes as I nodded. "Then everything will turn out for the best. You deserve to be happy, Bella. And Jake hasn't made you happy for a long time. Go and find your happiness Bella, wherever it is. I don't think it's in Forks," She squeezed my hand and we walked back into the house.

~*~

"Everyone, you guys, gather round! Bella's about to be a millionaire!" Mike shouted to get everyone's attention. Everyone jostled into the living room and Ang and I ducked in at the last moment. Mike stood on the sofa and searched the crowd for me. He pushed his way through then pulled me to the TV.

"Have you got your ticket?" he asked. I pulled it out of my pocket. I'd never played the lottery before; I didn't even know how it worked. Mike took the ticket off me impatiently as the first numbered ball dropped.

"No, no, no, yes! No, no," Everyone awww'd as they realised I hadn't won. Despite the conflict going on in my head, I couldn't help but be a little bit amused that everyone really thought I was going to win. Gradually, the crowd began to disperse. My mind flickered over my plans of seeing the world and I had to admit that a small part of me actually thought I was going to win, too. I looked at Ang and laughed.

"It's the thought that counts, I suppose," I held the ticket up then scrunched it into my pocket with the envelope.

"Nothing on the other ticket then?" Ang asked.

"What other ticket?"

"I bought two tickets, they were both in the envelope," Ang explained. I pulled the envelope out of my pocket again and opened it. There was a second ticket nestled there that I hadn't seen. Ang and I looked at each other, our eyes shining as though this was actually the winning ticket. I unfolded it and read out the numbers, comparing them to those still running across the bottom of the television screen.

"Six...yes...eleven...yes...nineteen..._yes_...twenty-seven, _yes, _thirty, YES, FORTY-FOUR, YES!!!!"

I couldn't help it. As girly as it was, Angela and I held onto each other's hands and jumped up and down, screaming and hugging.

"Bella! You're a millionaire!!" Ang squealed into my ear, trying to be quiet so everyone didn't hear what was going on. I stopped jumping and pulled Ang's arms down to her side, forcing her to settle down.

"No, Ang, _we_ are millionaire's. You bought that ticket, we're splitting it 50/50,"

"No, Bella, I bought it for you! It's your present," Ang protested.

"Absolutely not!" I insisted. "I will rip this ticket up, here and now, if you do not agree to this. Halves. $20 million each. That's more than we could ever need anyway," Ang looked up at me, her eyes wide.

"You're not serious?" she asked, amazement in her voice.

"I've never been more serious about anything in my life," I said. "The only question here is...what do we do first?!"


	4. First Sight

**Thanks for the reviews! Sorry it's been awhile since I've updated, things have been crazy with work so I've been doing 13 or 14 hour days. Thank God for the weekend!**

**I still own nothing Twilight. **

~*~

EPOV

I was sitting in a press conference the first time I saw her.

I was in Paris, doing the European leg of the promo tour for Light Persuasion. The magnificent glass pyramid that was the entrance to the Louvre rose majestically behind me and masses of photographers and reporters swarmed in front of me. In a roped off section to my left, hundreds of girls were screaming my name again. It used to give me a thrill to hear so many girls screaming my name. I knew that I could have any of them for the choosing, and I frequently did, getting an even bigger thrill out of making them scream my name again in private. It was one of the perks of having my face on screen and splashed across billboards around the world.

It had been awhile though, since I had felt the urge for meaningless, no-strings-attached groupie sex. Now, the screams just gave me a headache.

But the girl was not screaming or pushing at the rope to get closer. She was queuing up for the Louvre. I saw her wince as the screams became particularly high pitched and glance over in irritation. She said something to the girl standing next to her and they stood on their toes to try and get a better look. She shrugged and gave up, turning her attention back to the book in her hands. They edged forward as the line moved.

She couldn't see me.

The photographers, with their flashing cameras, were milling about in front of me like a wall. They closed ranks and I could no longer see her.

"Edward!" hissed Emmett from behind me. I jumped and turned my attention reluctantly back to the press conference.

"Excusez-moi, mademoiselle, repetez-vous sil-vous-plait?" I asked. The reporter asked her question again and I gave a pre-scripted answer in my perfect French, all the while trying to find a gap in the photographers so I could see this girl again. I stood up, hoping to be able to see her, to get her attention. My eyes scanned the line and I finally found her, her back facing me, about to enter the pyramid.

This girl was the most beautiful vision I had ever seen in my life. She turned her head to look at her friend and I could see that her face was an exquisite heart shape, with creamy white skin and high cheekbones which held the faintest hint of a rose blush. Her eyes, which immediately made me think of melted chocolate, were outlined with long dark lashes and her full, cherry-coloured lips were tantalizing in their perfection. Her face was framed by long, chestnut hair that cascaded down her back in soft curls, reaching the small of her back. She wore simple, comfortable clothes - skinny jeans, Converse trainers and a navy blue blouse that looked like silk as it flowed around her curves. She had a simple cream bag slung over her arm and carried what looked like a Lonely Planet guide. I ran my eyes over her perfect figure as she began to turn back towards me.

"Edward, sit down!" My head snapped around at the sound of Emmett's voice and I half-tripped over the chair I had pushed away. Emmett glared at me and I shook my head to clear my thoughts, before turning back to the reporters. I answered the rest of their questions as quickly as I could, until mercifully, the conference was over.

"Dude, what the fuck was that?" Emmett demanded angrily as I rushed off the little platform I was sitting on with my co-stars.

"I-I've got to go-" I gasped, willing him to understand with my eyes.

"Where? Why?" Emmett asked, looking at me as though I'd lost my mind. I didn't care. I sprinted towards the Louvre entrance, easily outrunning the girls who were screaming my name. The female security guard was too flustered to stop me, so I jumped over the guardrail and ran into the pyramid. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her snap back to attention as she and several other security guards joined forces to stop the hordes of girls. I pushed past people as I raced down the escalator into the main foyer of one of the biggest museums in the world. I stopped as I saw signs pointing to each of the different sections of the museum. Which way would she have gone? I thrust my hands through my hair as I spun on the spot, debating my direction.

_Fuck!_ I couldn't lose her. I whirled around again. Right - The East Wing. I had taken two steps in that direction when a familiar statistic ran through my mind - It would take three full days to see everything within the Louvre. It was one of the biggest museums in the world. I groaned and broke into a jog. I didn't have three days.

I had finished with the East Wing and was headed to the North Wing when I ran straight into Emmett.

"Woah, dude, what the fuck is going on?" he grabbed my arms so I couldn't go anywhere.

"Em, I can't explain, I need to find her," I struggled to get free of Emmett's iron grasp.

"Find who? You've got interviews back at the hotel in 20 minutes!"

"The girl!"

"Edward, there's five dozen girls waiting at the hotel; if you want some action you can go downstairs after your interviews and get some," Emmett's crude assumption made me feel ill.

"No - it's not like that Em," I tried to explain. "This girl - she was amazing. The most beautiful girl I've ever seen in my life,"

"Well, I'm sure she was lovely, but we really don't have time to chase through the fucking Louvre to find her! I don't think I need to remind you how important Vanity Fair is. You cannot keep them waiting," I sighed in defeat as I scanned the room one last time.

"Alright. Let's go,"

~*~

The second time I saw her was in Italy. I was in a taxi on my way back to the hotel from a photo shoot, gazing out the window daydreaming about her, when she appeared like an angel out of nowhere.

"Stop the car!" I screamed, pulling at the door handle. It was locked. Alice and Emmett stared at me like I was insane. The taxi driver let out a stream of Italian, which I couldn't understand a word of, and gestured madly with his hands.

"STOP THE CAR!" I screamed again and finally, the taxi pulled up at a set of traffic lights. I opened the door and ran in the direction we had come from, ducking in front of cars and scanning the crowds for her.

"Edward!" I heard Emmett and Alice calling after me but I ignored them. I couldn't let her slip through my fingers again. I kept running, almost knocking two old nuns into a tree. I reached the corner where I'd seen her. Nothing.

_Where is she?!_

I turned and ran down the side street, but quickly turned back when she wasn't there.

_Damnit!_

How could one person disappear twice?

~*~

The third time I saw her, I was determined not to lose her again.

In the three weeks since I had first seen her, I had spent my waking hours scanning crowds for her long brown curls and my sleeping hours dreaming of her face. I spent my nights chasing her through my dreams but every time I caught up with her, she would disappear and I would have to start chasing again.

Needless to say, my friends thought I had completely lost it. After Rome, Emmett took every opportunity to cure me of my infatuation with my mystery girl. I don't know what was worse – Emmett throwing me in the path of screaming fans or Alice making me describe the girl in minute detail so she could help me search.

"She's obviously your soul mate, Edward," she explained patiently. "I knew Jasper was mine before I even laid eyes on him,"

It was crazy, but I started to think that maybe she was right. Evidently, some kind of higher power – fate, perhaps – was throwing her in my path time and time again.

"You've seen her twice," Emmett scoffed when I mentioned for the millionth time that it couldn't possibly be a coincidence. "She's probably doing a tour of Europe and just happens to have chosen a couple of the same cities as you,"

It didn't help that I knew nothing about her. Was she French, or Italian? No, not French – she had definitely been holding a guide book at the Louvre. Not Italian either – she was in a tourist area and there was a camera on a strap around her neck, bouncing against her tight white t-shirt. How old was she? Why was she in Europe? Was she travelling alone? Did she have a boyfriend? Where was she staying?

I got the answer to one of my questions when we were on our way back to New York. Walking through Heathrow airport in London, I was ignoring Emmett and Alice as they talked about the image I portrayed to my fans.

"Angela, quick! We'll miss the flight!" An American voice rang out, crystal clear and shimmering like bells. I turned my head to the sound and saw her, handing over her boarding pass at a gate about 100 metres away. I stopped dead in my tracks.

"Edward?" Alice asked uncertainly. She followed my gaze across the crowded departure lounge and gasped as she saw what I was entranced by.

"Edward, _run!_" She shrieked, pushing me in the back. I looked at her, my eyes wide with shock. "_Go!_" She tried again. Finally, I realised what she was saying and broke into a sprint. I saw the girl giggle and gesture to her friend to hurry up as I leaped over someone's baggage. _75 metres. _Her friend handed over her boarding pass as I pushed through a line of people queuing for their flight. _50 metres. I'm going to make it._ As I got closer, people began pouring out of the gate next to hers , right into my path. I stumbled over someone's carry-on bag as I saw her walk through the gate and the flight stewardess closed it behind her.

"Wait!" I gasped as I got closer.

"I'm sorry, sir, this flight has closed," the stewardess told me, not sounding sorry in the least.

"Please, I need to get on that flight," I told her, panting.

"I'm sorry sir," she said again. "Boarding started 45 minutes ago. We cannot keep the doors open for people to arrive whenever they feel like it,"

"Please," I tried again, turning on the charm. "My friend just got on this flight, I really need to see her,"

"Are you flying to New York or Seattle?" she asked, taking the boarding pass out of my hands. She swiped it through the machine.

"Sir, I'm afraid this is not your flight. This plane is flying to Seattle, with a stopover in New York. Your flight is direct to New York and doesn't start boarding for another 20 minutes,"

"I know," I groaned. "But I just saw my friend get onto this plane, I really need to speak with her," I dodged past her and reached the door, tugging on the handle. It was locked.

"Sir, I need to ask you to step away from the door," I ignored her and started hammering on the door, hoping to attract the girl's attention.

"Sir, I will need to call security if you do not instantly step away from the door!" I looked around, a fevered look in my eyes, and saw Emmett and Alice catching up to me.

"It was her!" Even through my desperation, I could hear how pathetic I sounded.

"Edward, cut it out before she calls security," Emmett warned.

"We'll find her, Edward," Alice promised, her hand outstretched towards me. I didn't move, disappointment washing over me.

"People are looking," Emmett finally hissed. In a state of numbness, my eyes drifted past them where, sure enough, people were looking over at us, some of them pointing. One of them was even taking a photo on her cell.

"I lost her again," I said them. It was unbearable to have got so close. I leaned against the wall and slid down to a sitting position, running my hands through my hair.

"We'll find her," Alice promised again. She knelt by my side. "We know she's either gone to Washington or New York. At least that narrows it down," I laughed bitterly.

"So what, I'm supposed to trawl the streets of Manhattan for her? Find her in a crowd of eight million people? I can't even find her when I know where she is,"

"You've seen her three times now," Alice said gently. "And yeah, so you've missed her a couple of times. But if you are meant to know her, you will. Just wait, and when you least expect it, she will be there,"

"Geez man, how are you so worked up over one chick? I've never seen you like this before," Emmett said, sounding kind of grossed out. I had to laugh. It was kind of ironic that I could never get away from all the bimbo's that stalked me, no matter how many times I told them it was never going to be any more than a fling, and yet the one girl who I thought I could fall for seemed to avoid me at every turn.

She wouldn't avoid me anymore. The next time I saw her – and I was positive I would – I would not let her get away so easily.

~*~

**Please review!!**


	5. New York, New York

**Thank you so much to everyone who has left reviews for me! I always used to hate it when author's would beg for reviews – seemed a bit needy and insecure to me – but since I've been writing I totally get it! I do a little happy dance for every review I get.**

**Sorry it's taken so long to update; things have been a bit messy for me lately (major relationship issues) so my mind has been elsewhere. Also, I've been reading a couple of amazing stories that I want to let you know about – Take the Cake by sandyk199 and Help Wanted by jaxon22. You simply must read both of these, they are brilliant!**

**As per usual, I don't own Twilight – but I do own a new pair of Chucks and much too much cute La Senza underwear after my shopping trip today **

**~*~**

BPOV

As amazing as Europe was, I knew it had to end sometime.

We had seen the most incredible sights, but after two months Ang was really missing Ben, who had to stay at home for his job. I decided that I would spend some time recuperating in New York and then travel to all the places I'd wanted to see in the US, before going back home to Forks to spend Christmas with Charlie, since I'd missed Thanksgiving.

I said good bye to Ang at the airport and joined the queue for a taxi. After half an hour of waiting, a yellow cab pulled up. I was so excited I almost squealed in excitement – my first ride in a real, New York cab!

"Where to, miss?" the driver asked.

"Ummm..." I realised I didn't have a hotel booked and I had no idea of any hotel names. "It's my first time in New York, I haven't got anything booked," I explained when the driver cleared his throat.

"How long you stayin' sugar?"

"I don't really know...I guess if I love it I'll stay a month or so, or if I don't I'll just stay a week,"

"Honey, of course you're gonna love it. This is New York! It's the greatest freaking city in the whole world," That's when it hit me. _Oh my God, I'm really here!_

"I think I want to stay somewhere nice," I blurted out. Why the hell not? What's the point in having £20million if you can't spend it? Besides, we'd done Europe in style, why not finish the trip off.

"How nice are we talkin'? Coz if you want real nice, it'll cost ya,"

"That's okay. If cost were no issue, where would you stay?"

"There's a lot of swanky types at the Plaza," he suggested. "It looks right over Central Park, although it can get a bit crazy at times," the cabbie looked at me thoughtfully. "Although...judgin' by your looks, I think you're more of a Waldorf Astoria kind of girl,"

"The Waldorf Astoria?" Even the name sounded beautiful.

"Yeah, much classier place. Not so many celebrities comin' and goin' at all hours, got a nicer feel to it. More peaceful,"

I thought for a moment. Peaceful sounded good.

"The Waldorf Astoria it is," I grinned and fell back against the seat.

The drive into Manhattan was amazing. I got so excited to see all the famous landmarks and the cabbie even pointed out some that I didn't spot. Soon, we pulled up outside an incredibly beautiful old building and the cabbie pulled my suitcases out of the trunk.

"Oh, thank you," I said as I gave him the fare and tip. "I think you were right about the hotel choice," The cabbie just laughed and handed me a business card.

"Listen, you need a ride while you're here, you call me, okay? It's Brad,"

"Thanks, Brad, I'm Bella – Bella Swan," I smiled and pocketed his card before taking a final look at the facade and wheeling my suitcase through the doors.

_Wow._

Even the foyer was incredible. I looked around me in awe, taking in all the details. Even the nice places we'd stayed at in Europe were nothing to this place. I could tell just by looking at it that it would cost me a small fortune if I did indeed stay here a month or longer – and who was I kidding, in a place like this, how could I not love New York?

I was snapped out of my trance when someone walked right into the back of me. I hadn't even realised I was just standing there.

"I'm so sorry!" The lady apologised. She was beautiful. Her caramel coloured hair fell softly to her shoulders and her heart shaped face looked at me in concern.

"No, I'm sorry, it was all my fault for standing right inside the door," I apologised in return, feeling my cheeks turn red.

"It is astonishing, isn't it?" The lady smiled at me. "Is this your first time at the Waldorf Astoria?"

"Yes – it's my first time in New York, actually," I said shyly.

"And you're on your own?" The lady sounded concerned, like she really cared.

"I am. I've just been travelling through Europe with my friend, but she's gone home now. I decided since I hadn't seen New York, now was the perfect time,"

"Well I'm sure you'll be very pleased with it. I must say, New York is at its best in the Winter,"

"It's so beautiful. The cab drove past Central Park and I couldn't believe how beautiful it looked! And so big; I'm definitely going to start exploring there first," The lady smiled at me.

"Well I'm sure you'll have a lovely time. If you take a book, it's lovely to sit and read by the lake,"

"I might just do that," I replied, as I noticed a handsome blond man approaching us. The lady reached her hand out.

"Darling, you have to meet..." she trailed off.

"Bella. Bella Swan," I supplied.

"Bella. This is my husband, Carlisle, and I am Esme, it's a pleasure to meet you,"

"It's a pleasure to meet the both of you, too," I said, as I shook Carlisle's hand. And it really was. They seemed like nice, genuine people.

"Well Bella, as much as I would love to stay and tell you all about New York, unfortunately we have to be off to the airport to pick up our son and daughter. But if you find yourself at a loose end while you're here, we're staying in room 718 and you are more than welcome to come by for some sightseeing tips," Esme offered kindly.

"T-thank you," I stammered. "That's very generous of you," We smiled and said our goodbyes and I made my way over to the check in counter. I almost choked when they told me the room prices but decided what the hell, I could afford it. I even upgraded to a suite instead of a standard room, and honestly, it did not disappoint.

The room was huge and completely beautiful. Knowing that I would be there for awhile, I decided to unpack my bags rather than live out of a suitcase for the entire time I was there. I decided, since it was still early, to make my first visit to Central Park. After a long, hot, relaxing shower, I changed into a fresh pair of jeans and a plain white t-shirt with a pair of Chucks. I grabbed my purse, my room keycard and headed for the door. At the last moment, I turned back and added a quick spritz of my favourite perfume – Dolce and Gabbana Light Blue.

The park was just as beautiful as I had imagined.

I walked for hours, gazing in wonder at the way the sunlight glowed orange on the last of the Autumn leaves. The magnificence took my breath away. I had been all over Europe and seen the most incredible buildings and artworks, and yet nothing compared to the simplistic beauty before me.

The colours were amazing. I thought back to my life in Forks, where everything was green, and I mean _everything_. My thoughts began to drift and I wondered what Jacob was doing. I hadn't spoken to him since the night I broke up with him, yet Charlie was keeping me well informed of what he was doing. I tried explaining over and over again that it was over, but Charlie couldn't accept that I had fallen out of love and kept asking me what Jacob had done wrong.

It wasn't a matter of doing anything wrong. And I couldn't explain to Charlie how I could fall out of love for no reason. Jacob wasn't a bad guy, he just wasn't the guy for me. Still, he had been my whole life, my sun, for the past six years and I felt...lonely without him.

Had I made the right decision? I considered this briefly as my path took me across a bridge over a small lake. Jacob represented stability, companionship, friendship. But he didn't represent passion, or excitement or love. I had definitely made the right decision. Maybe one day, I could let Jacob back into my life as a friend, but I knew that we would never again be what we once were.

As dusk settled, I slowly made my way back to the hotel. Although I had made peace with my choice, I still felt a sense of melancholy. Maybe I would just have a night in tonight, rather than visiting the Empire State Building, as I had originally planned. There was a hot tub in my enormous bathroom, I would have a long soak with bubbles and order room service and then watch pay-per-view films in my pajamas.

I paused in the lobby as I searched my bag for my keycard. I started to panic as I dug deeper and deeper, until I finally found the little cardboard holder. Breathing a sigh of relief, I turned to make my way to the lifts when something hard slammed into me. In an effort to stay upright, I clutched at whatever was closest to me but only succeeded in dragging whatever – whoever – it was down with me. The breath was knocked out of me with an indelicate 'oomph' when my butt hit the floor. Momentarily stunned, I gasped for breath as I lay on the cold marble floor. As my vision blurred slowly back into focus, I realised that whoever it was who knocked me over was now lying right on top of me. Blushing, my eyes travelled from his low-riding jeans, up over his tightly fitted black t-shirt and up to his face.

My eyes grew wide as I took in the bronze colour of his hair and the fullness of his lips. His cheekbones looked like they were chiselled from stone and had a hint of stubble, as though he hadn't shaved for a day or two. Finally, I raised my eyes to find a pair of the most hypnotic green eyes I had ever seen, gazing at me in shock and what looked like amazement.

As I became aware of the smell of coffee and the coldness spreading across my chest, I realised whose body was running the length of my own.

_Edward Cullen_.

~*~

EPOV

I spent the entire duration of the flight in a bad mood.

I couldn't believe that I had somehow let her escape me for a third time. Seriously, how many times would fate be kind enough to throw such a vision in my path? If I was stupid enough to keep messing things up, surely fate would just throw up it's hands in exasperation and leave me to my own devices.

Emmett nudged me as a pretty stewardess walked down the aisle, offering coffee. She smiled seductively and leaned further forward than was strictly necessary.

"Would you like some coffee?" she practically purred at me. I shook my head with a polite but cold smile. A flash of disappointment crossed her face but thankfully she moved on without comment. Alice rolled her eyes at me from across the aisle before laying her seat back and pulling a blanket up to her chin. I did the same but knew I would not be sleeping with my thoughts so distracted.

What was it about this girl that had me so hooked? Since the first moment I saw her, I hadn't been able to think of anything else. She was beautiful, but I had seen beautiful girls before. She was different to the girls I usually met. She was innocent, and fragile. Her eyes sparkled with mystery and excitement; she wasn't cynical and jaded like most of the girls in Hollywood.

I don't know how I could know this about a girl I'd never even spoken to. It was ludicrous to feel like I knew her, but I just knew that there was something different – special – about this girl.

After seven hours spent daydreaming about the next time I would see her, the flight began its descent into JFK and I was pleased to think that I would soon see my parents. It was tough being away from my family for so long while I did the promotional circuit. I was lucky enough to have Alice and Emmett travelling with me most of the time but my father was a leading surgeon back home in Chicago and couldn't spend too much time away from the hospital. I hadn't seen them for nearly six months and I was looking forward to seeing them before heading to Canada for my next film.

We had made our way off the plane and through customs before I started to feel tense. It was rare that an airline worker or passenger didn't tip off the press with my destination and the paps loved getting photos of me after long haul flights. I ran my hand over my chin, feeling the stubble. That wouldn't look good in photos.

We got close to the exit and I could hear the noise already. I groaned and waited for Emmett to catch up. That was good thing about Emmett – although he was my manager, he was huge enough act as bodyguard when the need arose. Once he had caught up to me, he laughed at the look on my face.

"What would you do without me?" he asked with a grin. Emmett went first and I ushered Alice ahead of me. She was so tiny that I always worried the paps and fans would crush her. As we walked through the doors, I kept my head down and my eyes on Alice's suitcase in front of me. The crowds pushed and lightbulbs were flashing everywhere. God, I hated this part of the job. We pushed through and I could see Esme and Carlisle ahead. After brief hugs all around, we continued on to the waiting town car and climbed inside.

I let out a sigh of relief when the car pulled away from the crowd. Closing my eyes, I leaned back in my seat as Alice started chattering away with Esme and Carlisle. Eventually, we pulled up at the hotel and Esme handed us all our room keycards. I followed the others inside and gave my bags to a porter.

"Guys, I'm going to grab a quick coffee, I'll meet you upstairs in a minute," I told them. I stayed away from most of the temptations that came with fame, but coffee was my real addiction. I couldn't drink the muddy water they hand out on planes so I was in desperate need of a hit.

"I'm in room 731, come and see me when you get back," Alice instructed. "I need to talk to you about your wardrobe for the next few weeks,"

"Alice, give him a minute's peace," Esme chided gently. Alice put her hands on her hips.

"I can't give him a _second_ of peace if he insists on wearing horrible clothes! _You_ might not care if you're photographed in last years clothes but everybody knows that I am your stylist! People might think it was _me_ who put you in those tracksuit pants you wore last week,"

"Okay, okay, I'll be there," I told her. I'd learnt a long time ago not to mess with Alice when it came to fashion.

I made my way to the nearest Starbucks and hesitated. Out of the corner of my eye, I was sure I saw someone duck behind a shrub. I looked again but nothing seemed out of the ordinary so I went inside, feeling stupid. The girl at the counter almost fell over when she saw me approach.

"W-Welcome to Starbucks, what can I get for you today?" she said nervously.

"A tall cappuccino, thanks," I told her. I turned around, suddenly feeling like I was being watched. No one was there. I swear I was getting more paranoid every day. It was a beautiful day outside, and all I could see was paparazzi and obsessive fans at every corner. In fact, it was such a warm day outside I decided an iced coffee would probably suit my mood better.

"I'm sorry, can I change that order to an iced coffee?" I asked the girl as she turned to me with the cappuccino. "I'll pay for both," I told her, not wanting her to get into trouble because of me.

"Of course!" she said quickly. She quickly made the drink and I got my wallet out to pay.

"No, it's on the house," she said with a shy smile.

"No, I insist," I told her. "What does it come to?"

"Nothing – I just, well I wondered...could I maybe get your autograph instead? Please?" she asked, looking halfway between terrified and thrilled.

"Sure," I told her with a smile. She handed me a napkin and a pen. I signed the napkin 'To Miranda, with love, Edward Cullen'.

"How do you know my name?" she gasped.

"Err...your name tag," I said apologetically, pointing to it.

"Oh! Right," the poor girl was embarrassed and now I was too.

"Well...have a great day Miranda," I told her as I placed a $10 note on the counter and turned and walked towards the door.

"You too, Edward! I mean, Mr Cullen! I mean..." she trailed off in confusion. I waved and left the Starbucks, heading back to the hotel. I hadn't even gone half a block when I saw them. A group of probably 15 paps, all coming towards me. _Shit_.

I didn't pause to think. I'd had enough for the one day, so I turned and ran. I was fast, but the paps made a living out of chasing celebrities and they were gaining on me. I pushed though the crowds, trying not to spill my drink on anyone, ducking and weaving all the time, but I couldn't shake them. The sight of the hotel up ahead made me push myself harder – they couldn't follow me inside. I knew they were too far away to get a decent shot but I also knew they wouldn't stop trying.

They had almost caught up when I pushed through the big glass doors and bolted for the lifts, pulling my keycard out of my pocket. They may not be allowed inside, but they could still take photos through the glass. I looked behind me to check they hadn't actually followed me inside the hotel and ran straight into someone. I felt a small pair of hands clutching at my shirt and the next thing I knew, I was falling. As we crashed to the ground, I heard a feminine 'ooh', right before the lid came off my iced coffee, emptying the contents all over my unfortunate acquaintance.

I looked down at the person who had somehow ended up beneath me. Her long chestnut hair was flowing around her shoulders and I felt my chest constrict as realization dawned. An adorable rose tint began to steal across her cheeks as her gaze travelled up the length of my body. Her eyes finally reached my face, taking everything in with her wide, chocolate brown eyes.

_No. No, no, oh please God, no._

It was her. My mystery girl. I had chased her in three countries and when I finally got the chance to catch her, I cover her in iced coffee.

I could vaguely hear people shouting in the background but I couldn't bring myself to tear my gaze away from her. She was the one to finally break the spell.

"Wow," she sighed quietly. I couldn't stop myself from reaching up to brush a strand of hair from across her face. A look of confusion crossed her face.

"You have coffee in your hair," she said. Her voice was the sweetest sound in the world. I kept my eyes on her until I realised that common courtesy dictated that I respond.

"I'm sorry about that," I said guiltily.

"Why?" she looked so adorably confused that I chuckled, slightly breathless.

"Because it's not just in my hair, it's all over you as well,"

"Oh!" she gasped and looked down. Her wet t-shirt was clinging to her body as the coffee-coloured stain slowly spread across her chest. I cleared my throat and tore my gaze away from the sight of her body's involuntary reaction to the ice cubes scattered across her chest.

"I'm so sorry," I apologised again, and it suddenly occurred to me that I was still lying on top of her, our legs tangled together. I quickly stood up and helped her back to her feet. The second she was upright, her foot slipped on an ice cube and she started to fall again. Without thinking, I reached out and caught her, my hands on her waist. She blushed red again and a settled her on her feet.

"Thanks," she said, looking at the ground. I didn't like it – I couldn't see her beautiful eyes. I kept holding onto her until she looked up at me and I realised I was holding her rather close, considering I was a stranger to her. I released her and, because I couldn't think of anything else to say, I apologised again.

"I'm so sorry – I wasn't looking where I was going – I'll pay for dry cleaning," I told her.

"Who – what are they doing?" she asked, pointing behind me. I turned to see the paps snapping away furiously through the glass doors.

"Oh no," I groaned. I had never been more embarrassed in my life. "They were chasing me. I'm so sorry, this is probably going to be all over the tabloids tomorrow," Her face paled as my words sunk in and she started to back away.

"I have to go, I don't want to be photographed," she said, taking another look at her stained t-shirt.

"Wait – your handbag!" I called as I spotted her handbag on the ground. She knelt down and quickly retrieved her bag and the few items that had spilt out. I went to help and passed her keycard to her, pocketing my own. She accepted it and then she was gone. I contemplated going after her but the hotel manager was at my side, demanding to know what was happening. I grudgingly turned to explain, devastated that she was gone again, humiliated that I had knocked her over, but also thrilled at the knowledge that I had found her. I would knock on every door in the hotel if I had to; I would not let her slip past me again.


	6. Hot Tubs and Stalkers

**A/N**

**Sorry it's taken me so long to update guys, real life has been kicking my ass lately. I've just ended a five year relationship (Bella's relationship with Jake and her feelings about him may or may not be based on fact...) and I've decided to move back home to Australia (I moved to the UK because my ex is English), and on top of that, my team at work is three people down at the moment so I've been putting in crazy, ridiculous hours and we're still barely keeping on top of things. So, lots going on.**

**Thank you so much for all your reviews, I really do love each one of them!! I do my happy dance for each review I get **** Sorry I can't reply to all of you but, well, see above. **

**Also, I don't own Twilight – but I do own The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook, which I am really looking forward to actually reading!**

BPOV

I let out a breath as the elevator doors closed in front of me.

_Edward Cullen. Edward _fucking _Cullen._

My luck was bad at the best of times, but what did I do wrong to look like such an idiot in front of _Edward Cullen_? I turned to face myself in one of the mirrored walls. My hair looked like a haystack and I had a huge coffee-coloured stain across my chest. _Not_ the most flattering of looks.

Although, the blame wasn't totally on me this time – he was the one who ran into me. I plucked my wet t-shirt away from where it was sticking to my chest. At least he'd ordered an iced coffee so I didn't end up with burns all over me. I released the damp material from my fingers and it snapped back to my skin. _Oh God_. Maybe burns would have been better – thanks to the cold drink, my nipples were as hard as ice and very noticeable.

The realisation that Edward Cullen had definitely noticed struck me as I remembered the way his eyes had lingered on my t-shirt.

I leaned back against the elevator wall and took a deep breath. I would never see him again so I should just put this experience in the back of my mind and not let it ruin my first day in New York.

The elevator pinged as the doors opened on my floor and I made my way to my room. As soon as I was through the door, I peeled my t-shirt off and threw it on the bathroom floor. I turned the hot taps on, added some relaxing bubbles and took another deep breath to calm my nerves. Leaving the hot tub to fill, I went into the bedroom and dumped my handbag on the bed before removing the rest of my clothes. I collected my iPod and went back into the bathroom, where I relaxed into the tub and carefully turned on my iPod without getting it wet.

Closing my eyes, I found myself remembering the whole incident. He truly was dazzling in person, even more good looking than I could have imagined. His bronze hair was tousled and messy, his eyes were even more penetrating than I could have guessed. His lips were as smooth as marble and he had actually smiled a perfect, crooked grin at_ me_.

I sighed and sunk a little deeper into the hot water as I remembered the way his body had felt on top of mine. He was stronger and more muscled than I would have imagined. My mind wandered and I couldn't help imagining how it would feel if he were lying on me for a different reason – running his strong hands over my body and teasing my lips with his tongue. I felt a jolt of excitement and gasped out loud. It had been months since I had actually felt turned on.

Right on cue, my iPod changed songs – Sexy Bitch by David Guetta and Akon. I had danced rather suggestively to this song with a sexy Frenchman in a dark nightclub in Paris one night. In a move that was totally out of character for me, I had ended up making out with him in the middle of the dance floor until the early hours of the morning. Angela had been proud of me, saying it was an important step towards getting over Jake once and for all. I didn't want to tell her that I already was well and truly over Jake and my Frenchman experience was more to do with the fact that I was ready to explode after not letting Jake touch me for months.

Having never done anything like that before, when I awoke the next morning I had expected to feel slutty and even a bit dirty. In fact, it was the opposite. I felt powerful, sexy and most of all, in control. Pierre had begged me to go back to his apartment with him, and I knew that was pushing it too far, but I had enjoyed knowing (and feeling) what I was doing to him and how much he wanted me.

My physical relationship with Jake had been basic at best. We had been together for over a year when we finally made it past second base and it was another six months before I convinced him that Charlie assumed we were already having sex so we might as well. After that, things hadn't gotten much better. Jake wasn't an overly passionate person and he certainly wasn't unselfish in the bedroom – I lost count of the amount of times that I had to finish myself off after he had fallen asleep.

I returned my thoughts to Edward Cullen and the way his legs had tangled up with mine. I remembered the way his eyes lingered over my body and how he stayed on top of me longer than was strictly necessary. He had tenderly brushed a strand of hair behind my ear, and then leant in closer as he spoke to me. When I had slipped over, he caught me around the waist and I remembered how he had splayed his fingers across my rib cage before letting go.

_Snap out of it_, I told myself. As if _Edward Cullen_ would ever find someone like _me_ attractive when he dates girls like Rosalie Hale.

But still, even though I would probably never see him again, I couldn't help but indulge in a little Edward Cullen fantasy. After all, I had gotten a lot closer to him than most girls ever would. I remembered back to my birthday when I had imagined myself in bed with him looking down at me, his hair messy where I had run my hands through it.

_Yep, I wasn't wrong. He most certainly does look good from that angle_.

I couldn't help but smile at the thought and decided to expand on the fantasy a little longer. I soon found myself rubbing my legs together to create friction and was on the verge of reaching my hand between my legs when a sound snapped me out of my daydream.

~*~

EPOV

After I had explained everything to the manager, I made my way to Alice's room. I really didn't feel like going over my wardrobe right at that moment but I had to fly to Canada the following day for filming and I knew that it was better to get it over and done with. Plus, I figured once we were done I could talk Alice into going door-knocking with me to find the girl.

_Knock knock. "Hi, my name's Edward Cullen. I've been stalking you around Europe, and oh, you might remember me from earlier, when I humiliated you in front of the entire hotel and the world's most determined paparazzi by throwing my iced coffee all over you and then practically molesting you on the ground. I've been searching the hotel for you because I think I'm in love with you and would like nothing more than to spend the rest of my life making love to you."_

Hmmm. My opening line might need a bit of work.

I found Alice's room and knocked. Alice opened the door and stared at me for a second in confusion.

"What happened to you?" I groaned and held up the empty, crumpled plastic cup. "You emptied a cup of iced coffee over your head? Why would you do that?" she asked a she snatched the cup out of my hand and threw it in the bin. I walked inside and sat down on the edge of her bed, putting my head in my hands. Emmett was sitting in the arm chair watching a baseball game on the TV.

"I fucked up," I whispered.

"How? What happened?" Alice asked.

"I was running from the paps and I ran right into her. The coffee went all over her and I knocked her to the ground," I whispered. "What am I supposed to do now?"

"It's not the end of the world Edward. So you ran into someone and spilt a bit of coffee. It's hardly life-threatening," Alice scoffed.

"It was her," I said quietly.

"What was that?"

"It was her," I repeated, slightly louder this time.

"Her? Her as in, Europe girl?" Alice's eyes grew wide with shock. I simply nodded.

"Ohmigod, you found her!" Alice screamed and starting jumping up and down on the spot. "This is fantastic! What's her name? Did you get her number? When can I meet her? Are you taking her out? Where are you going to go?"

"No Alice. I told you, I fucked up. I knocked her to the ground and threw coffee at her, I apologised, she saw the paps and she ran before I even had a chance to say anything. She's in this hotel, somewhere, and she probably thinks I'm the world's biggest jerk,"

"That's coz you are," Emmett piped up without taking his eyes off the game.

"Thank you, Emmett, that's very helpful," Alice snapped sarcastically. She sat down next to me. "Right, you have two choices Edward. We can try front desk, and see if they will tell us what room she's in, or we can start knocking on every single door in the hotel and try to find her,"

"How can I ask front desk what room she's in if I don't even know her name?" I pointed out. "And I can't go knocking on every door in the hotel, what am I supposed to say? 'Hi, is there a beautiful brunette here who is covered in iced coffee?'"

"You could always just stand outside the elevators like a stalker and wait for her. She has to leave sometime," Emmett suggested. I sat up a bit straighter as I actually considered this idea. "Jeez dude, I was just kidding," Emmett said, looking disgusted. "You really are pussy-whipped, aren't you?"

"Shut up Emmett, or we'll tell Rosalie how you used to jerk off to posters of her up on your bedroom wall," Alice snapped. Woah, no matter how many times I heard it, my sister's dirty mouth surprised me every time.

"You wouldn't dare," Emmett said slowly.

"Try me," Alice threatened. "I spend hours in wardrobe with her every day on set. Plenty of opportunities to mention any of your other dirty little secrets too," Emmett narrowed his eyes then sat back in his chair.

"Fine," he muttered. Growing up together, Emmett and I had quickly learnt that although she was tiny, Alice was dangerous when crossed.

"Now," Alice said, turning back to me. "As much as I hate to say this, we're putting off your wardrobe discussion for now. Go to your room and clean yourself up. We're going downstairs,"

"Alice...we're not really going to hang around the elevators are we?" I mean, I wanted to see her again, but I didn't want to look like a stalker.

"Of course not. We're going to the bar. There's a perfect view of the elevators and the entire lobby. It's her first night in New York – she's not going to spend it in a hotel room. When she walks past, you can go and talk to her and offer to escort her to the Empire State Building or wherever it is she wants to go,"

I thought about what she said. That could actually work.

"Okay. I'll meet you back here in an hour,"

"An hour? We can't take too long or we might miss her,"

"Trust me, Alice. She was covered in coffee, head to toe. She's going to need to clean up before she goes anywhere," Alice thought about that for a moment.

"Okay. One hour. Back here," she barked at me. "You! Out," she said to Emmett, making him jump.

"Aww man, I'm just getting into it," he complained.

"Well go and watch it in your own room. And if you want to come to the bar with us, you better be ready in an hour,"

I chuckled at their squabbling as I let myself out. They still acted exactly the same as when we were kids. I pulled out my keycard and looked for the little number on the cardboard sleeve. Room 1208. That's odd. Everyone else was on the seventh floor, why would they put me on the 12th? I really hoped I hadn't been given an upgrade to one of the suites while the rest of my family had normal rooms. I really hated being given precedence and would rather be closer to them anyway. I shrugged and made my way to the elevators and pushed the number 12.

The doors pinged open and I followed the signs to room 1208. Jiggling my keycard in the slot, I smiled at a couple who were leaving the room next to mine and tried not to look like I was trying to break into the room, but the damn red light kept flashing at me. Just my luck, a broken card. There were two in the sleeve though so I took the other one out. Green light. Phew.

"Have a nice night," I said to the couple as they walked past, giving me a funny look.

I pushed the door open and saw that I had, in fact, been given one of the suites. They were nice for special occasions and if I was going to be staying for a long time, but for one night it really wasn't worth it. I walked straight to the door that I assumed led to the bathroom. Time to check out the coffee damage. I noticed that the light was on in the bathroom as I opened the door and stepped inside. Barely had the thought registered in my mind, when I saw the reason for the light.

_Holy shit!_

The girl, _my_ girl, was lying back in the hot tub, her eyes closed, listening to an iPod. The bubbles were thick and rippling over her body as though she had just moved. Her head was resting on a rolled up towel and she had a slight smile on her angelic face and a hint of colour on her cheeks. Her bare shoulders rose out of the water, which was just deep enough to hide her breasts. Even so, I felt myself harden at the sight before me.

In the second it took me to see all these things, the door swung on its hinges behind me. As it slammed shut, the girl opened her eyes, saw me standing there and screamed.

"Shit!" I shouted as I put one hand over my eyes and spun back around to the door. I felt around for the door handle but couldn't find it.

"What the _fuck_?!" I heard her scream behind me and could hear water splashing everywhere.

"What the hell are you doing in my hot tub?!" I yelled at her in shock while I fumbled for the door handle.

"Your hot tub? This is my room!" She yelled back at me. The sound reverberated around the room so loudly I was surprised the mirror didn't smash behind me.

"How can it be your room if I have the key to it?!"

"I don't know, but if you want a goddamn conversation about it, can it wait until I'm not naked?!!" she screamed. Oh God, I really didn't need another reminder that she was naked. Finally, my fingers found the door handle. I pulled on it and heard a cracking noise as my hand flew away from the door, still holding onto the handle.

Suddenly, there was silence as the echoes of our screaming died down.

"Oh _fuck_,"

~*~

**A big shout out to Wemseee – for being the only person to guess that they switched room keys by mistake!**

**Please review, guys!**


	7. Fate?

**A/N**

**This has taken forever to get out, I know! Big apologies to everyone reading this. I had trouble with this chapter and I'm still not happy with it but after numerous edits I've decided to just go for it. I'd really like to know what you think about this one – constructive criticism is more than welcome! – so please review at the end. **

**I've also decided to start looking for a beta, so if anyone is interested, please let me know!**

**As always, I don't own Twilight, but I do own a pair of Minnie Mouse ears from when I went to EuroDisney last week!**

EPOV

_Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck._

_...Fuck._

This could not be happening. There is no way that I could possibly fuck things up so many times with this girl before I even know her name.

"Umm...why are you holding the door handle?" she asked quietly...and dangerously. I dropped my right hand to my side and pinched the bridge of my nose with my left. I took a deep, slow breath, held it for a few seconds and then released it slowly.

"Umm..." _Smooth, Cullen. _

Silence.

"Why are you holding the door handle?" she asked again, a little louder this time.

"It...broke," I explained. _Very articulate._

"Broke...badly?"

"Yes," I whispered.

"Can it be...unbroke?" I heard the water splash softly behind me and forced myself not to turn to look at her.

"I don't think so," I admitted.

"Oh,"

Silence.

"Would you please see if you can open the door without the handle?" she asked, excessively politely and in the same, spookily calm voice. I made a futile attempt to shove the handle back onto the door, as though it was somehow magically going to stick back together. Eventually, I dropped the handle and ran my fingers down the crack between the door and the wall, trying to hook my fingertips into the gap to pull the door open.

"Arrgh," I growled in frustration as I gave up.

Silence.

"I couldn't open it," I said. I heard her slowly release her breath.

"Could you please try banging on the wall?" She asked in the same polite tone.

"Errr...I don't think anyone will be able to hear that,"

"Why not?"

"I've stayed in this hotel before, in a suite the same as this. These three walls," I gestured to the wall with the door and the two on either side of me. "Are all internal walls. They face into my bedroom, hallway and closet,"

"_My_ bedroom, hallway and closet," she interrupted. I let it slide.

"That wall," I pointed over my shoulder but still didn't turn around. "Faces into my neighbours room. And, when I opened _my_ front door with _my_ keycard, _my_ neighbours left their room, all dressed up like they were going out somewhere,"

"So we're stuck here," she stated.

"Yes,"

"I am locked in a bathroom with a total stranger, and I am naked in a hot tub," she muttered to herself.

"Errr...We might be here awhile," I said apologetically as I ran my hand through my hair. I leaned forwards onto the door, propping myself up with my hand. I heard her gasp quietly behind me but she didn't say anything.

"I'm supposed to meet my sister in her room in an hour though. When I don't show she might get worried and come looking for me,"

"She won't know to look in my bathroom though, will she?" she said sarcastically.

"I'm really sorry about the coffee by the way," I said suddenly.

And that's when it hit me. When I helped her pick up her handbag, her keycard had fallen out of its little cardboard pocket, the same as mine. I put two cards back in one pocket, and two back in the other.

The first keycard I tried in the door didn't work.

When I walked into the bathroom, as my eyes were drawn to her, I had seen a cosmetics bag on the counter.

I had taken her keycard by mistake.

Oh _fuck_.

"I beg your pardon?" she asked from behind me, sounding surprised. Had I spoken out loud?

"Oh God, I'm so sorry, I think I took your keycard my mistake when I spilled my coffee over you," I blurted out in a rush. To my intense surprise, I heard her giggle behind me. It was the most beautiful sound in the world.

"Finally, he gets it!" she laughed. I couldn't help it. I chuckled as well. At least she didn't seem angry.

"So, errr...my name's Edward," I said stupidly. There was a pause.

"I know," she said quietly. I had been dying to know her name for weeks now but it seemed like she wasn't interested in sharing.

"What's your name?" I sounded like a five year old. Next thing you know, I'd be asking her if she wants to share my crayons. It was quiet and for a moment I thought she wasn't going to answer.

"Bella," she whispered. "Bella Swan."

_Bella_.

"Bella..." I tried it out and found that it fit perfectly. I felt the urge to turn around again but I didn't want to look like a pervert.

"Edward...if..." she started and then stopped.

"If..." I said encouragingly.

"If we're going to be here for awhile...you probably don't want to face the door for a few hours," she whispered. I felt my heart stutter and I swallowed thickly. Was she really suggesting what I thought she was suggesting?

"R-really?" I asked. Not very original, but it was all I could think of.

"Well, there's lots of bubbles," she said, as though that explained everything. I took a deep breath and waited.

"Are you sure? I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable,"

"It's okay," I turned and leaned back against the door, keeping my eyes on the floor. Eventually I raised my eyes to look at her.

She was lying back in the hot tub – if she had sat up she would have revealed everything – with bubbles covering the surface of the water. She was looking at me with a perfect blush across her cheeks and her bottom lip captured by her teeth. I concentrated for a few seconds on keeping my breathing steady but then our eyes met and I couldn't look away. I felt everything else slip away until I reminded myself I was staring and forced myself to break the spell.

"It's nice to finally meet you Bella," I said with a grin. She smiled back at me nervously and I realised this must be incredibly difficult and embarrassing for her. I put aside my thoughts of ravishing her then and there in the tub and decided to focus on making her relaxed and comfortable.

BPOV

_I can't believe this_.

If you had told me a few months ago that I would be lying naked in a hot tub, in a five star hotel in New York, locked in a room with Edward Cullen, I would have thought you were high.

But here I was. And there he was. And he looked _unbelievable_.

Of course, he had scared the crap out of me when he walked into the room but I had calmed down when I realised how lucky I was. If he had arrived two minutes later, he probably would have found me touching myself and moaning his name. Once that thought had occurred to me, him finding me naked but not actually being able to see anything, didn't seem to bad.

Besides, someone like Edward Cullen wouldn't look twice at me anyway. And talking to him was definitely better than sitting in silence until housekeeping or whoever found us.

Come on, who was I kidding? He was so insanely good looking that I figured I might as well take the chance to look at his perfect face while I could. I forced myself to breathe in and out, hoping I didn't look like some starstruck fan, although I almost lost it when he ran his fingers through his hair. I had an immediate flashback to my Edward-bed-hair scenario that was so vivid that I actually gasped out loud. He didn't say anything so I could only hope that it wasn't loud enough for him to hear.

When he did turn around, I could feel my blush giving me away but I couldn't stop myself from gazing into his emerald eyes. He looked like he was concentrating very hard on looking at my eyes and I felt a little surge of excitement that maybe he wanted to look at my body. Then he seemed to snap out of it.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Bella," He gave me the same crooked grin as he had earlier, one that I had not seen in the many photographs of him, and it was all I could do to stop myself jumping out of the tub and throwing myself at him.

Or even, pulling him into the tub to join me.

_No, stop it!_

"So tell me Bella, what are you doing in New York?" he asked, giving me another sexy smile.

"I'm...on holiday," I said evasively. I didn't really want to get into the whole "I won the lottery so I escaped my small town and my ex-boyfriend and decided to do whatever the hell I like for a change" story.

"On your own?" He asked, raising his eyebrows slightly.

"All on my own," I agreed.

"Have you been here long?"

"Only a few hours," I smiled. "I was travelling in Europe with a friend but she went home because she missed her boyfriend and I wasn't ready to go back yet. So I decided to come to New York. So far, I love it," I immediately cringed as soon as the words were out of my mouth. Edward looked at me with his mouth slightly open and I flushed bright red. "I mean, not...obviously...I meant, I went to the park and, um, the hotel and...oh God," I sunk a little lower into the water and contemplated submerging myself completely until this whole embarrassing episode was over.

"You mean, having a complete stranger throw his iced coffee over you and then lock you in your own bathroom doesn't make the top ten of your trip?" he teased, laughter evident in his eyes. _Wait a second, is he flirting with me?_

"You forgot accusing me of breaking into his room," The words were out of my mouth before I'd even thought about it. Edward's face broke into what could only be described as a panty-dropping smirk. Good thing I wasn't wearing any at that moment in time.

"Very true," he drawled. "That would definitely be in my top ten, if I were you,"

"Well, you're up against some pretty tough competition,"

"What, like the Mona Lisa? The Eiffel Tower? Sistine Chapel? You're telling me that they all rank above the psycho coffee thrower-slash-bathroom abductor? I'm hurt," he made the most adorable pouting face.

"If it makes you feel any better, I think the look on your face when you realised it was my room makes the top 15?" I said it almost as a question and made my eyes wide and innocent as I gazed at him. He sighed dramatically.

"I suppose that will have to do for now. As long as I am closer to ten than 15," he raised his eyebrows enquiringly.

"Of course," I told him in a soothing tone, trying not to laugh.

"Top 11?" he asked hopefully and I actually did laugh out loud.

"Sure, why not," I told him. He moved from where he was leaning his back against the door and sat down on the floor at the foot of the bath.

"So what was number one? After a few months travelling, you must have done some pretty amazing things,"

I thought about it for a moment. "I'm not sure," I admitted.

"Okay, some of the best then?" He seemed genuinely curious and I couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking. Was he trying to make me more comfortable by turning on the charm? It was working.

"Well...the Palace of Versailles outside Paris is one highlight," Edward smiled and nodded.

"The Hall of Mirrors?" he asked knowingly.

"You've been?"

"Of course. I was working in Paris a couple of years ago and had a bit of time off so I did some exploring. The first place I went was Versailles and I just fell in love with the whole place. The Hall of Mirrors was mind blowing, but the gardens and the Royal Opera House were close runners up," he told me. I have to admit, I was surprised. I must have been showing my emotions on my face again because Edward chuckled softly.

"It's not all red carpets and exotic film locations, sometimes I do like to learn something and take in a little culture," he teased me. I blushed.

"You surprised me," I admitted. "I guess I thought you would be too busy for that. Doesn't everybody say being an actor isn't as glamorous as it looks? And that it's really just hard work and long hours?"

"That's true, it is, but I'll let you in on a little secret," Edward leaned forward and glanced mischievously around him, as though making sure no one could overhear, before lowering his voice. "The day I went to Versailles, I was so sick of work that I disconnected one of the cables for the main camera and hid the adapter. Filming shut down for a whole day until they found it,"

"No!" I gasped, giggling. Edward nodded solemnly.

"Emmett would have killed me if he'd found out, but I don't regret it. If I didn't do it, I wouldn't have seen Versailles and then I wouldn't have been able to surprise you,"

"Emmett?"

"My manager-slash-best friend. We grew up together and when I started my career he was always there so he sort of fell into the role of manager. I'd much rather it was him than some suit from the studio. But enough about me. What else have you done recently?" His eyes twinkled at me and I didn't know what to say.

"Oh, ummm...I went to the Louvre in Paris. I'm not an art aficionado at all, so I couldn't tell you about any one piece of art but the whole museum was great," I noticed a funny look come across his face when I mentioned the Louvre. "What, you don't like the Louvre?" I asked, confused.

"No, I do. It's just, ah, I like it there, too," his face smoothed out and the odd look was gone. "Any other favourites?"

"Oh, gosh, ummm...Maybe the British Library?"

"I've been there, too," Edward said smiling. "I did a reading there last year for an exhibit they did on early Hollywood. It's peaceful there,"

"I know, such a beautiful building too,"

"Why did you go there?"

"I _think_ it was for the books..." I said, tapping my chin thoughtfully, with a teasing smile on my face. I mean, why else would somebody go to a library? Edward laughed in response and I breathed a little sigh of relief that he didn't think I was being rude.

"Okay, I guess I deserved that. So, what do you like to read?" he asked curiously. Again, it felt like he was really interested in hearing my answer.

"Um, the classics, mostly. Jane Austen, Shakespeare, Byron. Anything I can get my hands on, really," I cringed inwardly at how dorky I must sound.

"Byron?" he looked surprised. "I find him incredibly self-centred and egotistical. He couldn't write anything that wasn't centred on his own scandalous behaviour. Plus, he totally ripped off Shakespeare all the time," Edward stated very matter-of-factly.

"W-what?" I stuttered. If Edward looked surprised when I mentioned Byron, it was nothing to how stunned I'm sure I looked when he started critiquing Byron's work.

"Oh come on! Sardanapalus, committing suicide with his lover after being persecuted by the insurgents. The Two Foscari, another tale of persecution – what a coincidence – based on the premise of one family doing wrong by another. Need I go on?" He had an incredibly smug look on his face and I knew I should retaliate but the words wouldn't come out. I just sat there, feeling shocked that I was sitting naked in a hot tub, having a debate about the works of Lord Byron, with Edward Cullen of all people.

"See, you know I'm right," Edward said with another smirk.

"Actually..." I took a deep breath. "Byron's work does have a strong element of the autobiographical, but that's what makes it so wonderful in this day and age – it gives us an amazingly honest view into a world that no longer exists. And as for ripping off Shakespeare, well, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure it was you playing the lead in _A Dream of Summer_, which is based on _A Midsummer Night's Dream_? At least Byron only took elements and worked them into his own story, _A Dream of Summer_ took the entire plot, characters and everything, and yet some people still seem to like it,"

Now it was Edwards turn to be stunned. He stared at me, speechless.

_Oh shit, I hope I haven't offended him_.

We looked at each other for a few more seconds until I couldn't help myself. He looked so astonished that I started giggling. A second later, he joined me in laughing, and the sound echoed around the room.

Edward stopped laughing and scooted further forward, so he was now sitting halfway up the length of the bath, closer to the end where I was sitting. He picked up my hand from where it was resting on the edge of the tub and as his skin touched mine, I felt a burst of electricity shoot through my body. He raised my hand and gently pressed his lips to my fingers and in that moment, I swear I felt my heart stop.

"Bella," he started, his eyes sparkling as they looked into mine. "No one has ever told me _A Dream of Summer_ was, and I quote, 'just a rip off of Shakespeare' before,"

"I didn't mean –" I stuttered.

"No, let me finish. No one has ever said that to me – even though it's true. So, thank you, for being honest with me and telling me that my film, which, I might add, was nominated for six Oscar's and won four, is merely a plagiarism and that _somehow_, _some_ people _seem_ to like it," His lips were pursed in a thin line and he dropped his head, looking sad. I felt my heart stop again, this time because I realised I had insulted him.

_The hottest guy on the planet was trying to be nice to you, and you insult him. Nice work, Swan._

"I-uh, I didn't...um..." _Great, now I can't even form a coherent sentence. _It was at that point that I saw his shoulders shaking slightly. His lips, pursed as they were, seemed to be turning up slightly at the corners. His eyes were still sparkling at me.

"You played me!" I gasped, wrenching my hand out of his. Edward dissolved into giggles now that his game was up.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it was too tempting! I couldn't resist!"

"I thought you were serious! You made me feel so guilty, I thought I'd really offended you," I told him. I made a show of crossing my arms and huffed, turning my head away from him.

"Aww, don't be cross with me," he crooned. "I'm sorry, I won't do anything like that to you ever again, please don't be mad," I glanced back at him to see him looking at me with big eyes and a pouty expression. My heart melted just a fraction.

"You're still trying not to laugh, aren't you?" I accused, as he broke down again, laughing helplessly. "Okay, mister, let's see if you still find it funny _now!_" I said as I splashed him with as much water and bubbles as I could. He immediately stopped laughing and choked a little on the water that hit him in the face. He blinked slowly and wiped a drop of water from his eye. I giggled as he just continued to sit there, stunned.

"That wasn't very nice," he said in a low, dangerous voice.

"Then what are you gonna do about it, huh?" I leaned forward and rested my forearms on the side of the tub, resting my chin on my hands. _Holy shit, am I flirting with him now?_

Edward raised one eyebrow in an undeniably sexy smirk.

"Since I can't exactly put my hands into the bath to splash you back," he paused as his eyes travelled down to the bubbles and back up again. He leaned forward slightly and his voice dropped to a deep, sexy drawl. "You better sleep with both eyes open, Swan. Because payback is a bitch,"

My breath caught and I felt my heart stutter. He was...dazzling, there was no other word for it. I gazed into his entrancing eyes, knowing I should look away. Flirting with Edward Cullen could never end well. Luckily, Edward moved first, clearing his throat and sitting back upright.

"So what's on top?" he asked.

"I – sorry, what?"

"Of your list. Come on, you've had time to think about it. The number one, best thing that you have done over the past three months,"

Hmmm, it was a tough call. Over the past three months, I had done more than I had in the past three years. And then it hit me. The thing that had made me happiest, more relieved and more _free_ than anything had for a long time.

_I broke up with Jacob._

But how could I tell Edward Cullen that? Would he think I was just saying it as a way of hinting that I was single? And what kind of person lists breaking up a long term relationship as the best thing they've done?

"Bella? Are you okay?"

"Oh! Fine, sorry. Just thinking," _Just say it!_

"So spill, what is it?"

"Ummm...does it have to be something I've done while travelling?" I asked nervously.

"No, I suppose not," Edward looked a little confused.

"Hmm okay. This is going to sound really bad...but three months ago I ended a relationship with a guy I'd been with for five years. That's probably the top spot," I muttered.

"Why would that sound bad?"

"It's a bit cold-hearted, don't you think? I'm sure he doesn't see it as the best thing that's happened to him in awhile,"

"Maybe he does," Edward said practically. "Maybe he wanted to end things as well,"

"Heprpsdtme," I mumbled.

"Pardon?" Edward asked, raising his eyebrows.

"He proposed to me," I looked down, blushing, unable to meet his eyes. Edward was silent for a moment.

"Is that why you broke up with him?" he whispered.

"No...I didn't love him anymore. I'd been unhappy for a long time, and when he proposed on my birthday, I felt so...trapped that I couldn't take it anymore," Okay, it was officially weird to be talking about this with Edward Cullen.

"He proposed on your birthday?" Edward scoffed.

"At my party. He took me into the forest, said he was going to give me his present, and then just asked "Will you marry me?" out of nowhere," After telling Ang what happened, the night of my birthday, I hadn't been able to speak to anyone about that night. But with Edward, it all just came pouring out.

"God, no wonder you dumped his sorry ass," Edward ran his pinkie along my forearm, from my elbow to my wrist, which was still resting on the edge of the tub, and tapped my nose gently. My heart melted at the cute gesture but my mind screamed at me not to take it to heart. Maybe he's just a touchy-feely person. "A birthday proposal has got to be the worst way to do it. Or Christmas, or Valentine's Day,"

"Why do you say that?"

"It basically means 'I couldn't think of anything to get you, so here, have an engagement ring'," I giggled because in a way, it was kind of true.

"It sounds like you've put a lot of thought into this," I teased. "I guess the rumours are true then,"

Okay, so I was fishing for information. Sue me.

"Rumours? You mean the ones about me and Rosalie?" he confirmed and I nodded my head. He sighed and shook his head, with a small smirk on his face as though he knew exactly what I was doing.

"Honestly? Complete bullshit," he stated. My eyes widened, silently asking for confirmation. "Completely made up. In fact..." Here he paused and leaned closer again. He had to stop doing that, otherwise I would have a heart attack right there in the tub. _Death by Cullen in the hot tub...hmmm not a bad way to go_. "Since you didn't tell anyone my Versailles secret, I'll let you in on another. You remember I mentioned my friend Emmett? They've been together for four years,"

"What? Really?" I gasped.

"Absolutely. That's why there are always so many rumours about Rose and me. Emmett and I are together more often than not, and he and Rose try to be together as much as possible, so naturally Rose and I are often in the same place, too," he explained.

"I guess you really shouldn't believe everything you read. Not that, uh, I do read...those kind of articles, it's just, I mean..." I felt my blush come on as I realised it must have sounded like I read trashy gossip magazines stories about him. He chuckled lightly beside me. When I glanced up at him, he actually looked embarrassed. We sat in silence for a few minutes before Edward's hand and gaze dropped to my hand again.

"Bella...how long have you been in this bath?" he asked.

"Umm...I'm not sure?"

"Look at your fingers, you must have been in there for hours! That's not good for you,"

"I guess I've been in here since I came to my room. You know, after having coffee spilt on me," I grinned slyly at him. He laughed nervously.

"I am sorry about that," he said sincerely.

"I know, I'm just teasing, you don't need to keep apologizing,"

"I feel like I should. Your first day in New York and some random guy throws his coffee at you. Probably not the way you wanted to spend your first day here,"

"That is true. But it's better than having some random guy take you hostage in your own bathroom,"

"You're never going to let me forget this, are you?" he asked. My heart sped up a little at the assumption that we would be seeing each other again after tonight.

"Absolutely not,"

"Excellent," he said sarcastically. "But, we need to get you out of this tub. It's not good for you to sit in the water for too long, and I'll bet it's getting cold, too,"

"Err...I don't have any clothes in here," I whispered, feeling my face burn. The colour drained from Edward's face and he gulped before taking a deep breath and looking around the room.

"We have towels," he said. "You can dry off and wrap up nice and warm in a couple of towels. And don't worry, I will be a perfect gentleman and close my eyes until you say I can open them again," he promised.

I thought about it for a second. It would be nice to get out of the water so I didn't end up resembling a prune. Then again, it would also be nice if Edwards wasn't a perfect gentleman about it.

"Okay, but close your eyes," I warned him. Edward made a show of squeezing his eyes shut and covering his eyes with the palms of his hands. I stood up, putting my hand on the wall for support, and stepped out of the hot tub so I was standing right next to Edward. I reached over and grabbed a towel and drops of water trailed from my hair on to Edward.

"Hey, you got me wet," he said, pretending to be cross.

_Well you got me wet first_, I thought, pursing my lips so the words didn't accidently come out of my mouth.

"Sorry,"

I quickly rubbed myself down with the towel and squeezed some of the moisture out of my hair. Picking up another towel, I wrapped it around myself and secured it at the centre of my chest. I ran my fingers through my damp hair and peeked in the mirror. The towel was long enough to leave some things to the imagination, but short enough to give the imagination a kick start. _Oh, who are you kidding? Like Edward Cullen would even think about checking you out._

I felt my face heat up as I sat down next to Edward, tucking my legs to one side so my knee was almost touching his thigh.

"Okay, I'm good. You can look," I said softly. Edward pulled his hands away from his face and opened his eyes, blinking a couple of times as he adjusted to the lights. He looked at me and cleared his throat.

"Do you always blush?" he asked, just as softly. I blushed even harder and put my hands up to my cheeks to hide them.

"No, don't hide it. It's beautiful. _You're_ beautiful," Edward's voice dropped to a whisper and he took my hands in his, moving them away from my face and into my lap. In that moment I actually felt my heart stop as I gazed into his eyes.

"Bella, I have to be honest with you. I have a confession," he said seriously as he gently pushed a strand of hair out of my eyes and tucked it behind my ear. My heart suddenly started again, this time at double speed.

EPOV

Bella just looked at me, her eyes asking me to continue. I couldn't take my eyes off hers, knowing that if I did, I wouldn't be able to stop myself from looking at the way her towel was riding higher up her legs. I took a deep breath and jumped in.

"I saw you," I said in a rush. Immediately, Bella's eyes widened and her blush spread, not just across her cheeks but across her chest as well. She tugged her towel lower at the hem and held it tightly at the top, as though she was trying to stretch it longer. Her head dropped lower in embarrassment.

"Oh God, no! Sorry, sorry! Not today!" I blurted out as I realised what she thought I meant. "Please, Bella, look at me, that's not what I meant," When she kept her head down, I reached across and put my hand under her chin. "Please look at me, Bella," I whispered and I lifted her chin. She slowly raised her eyes to mine, still clearly mortified.

"Bella, what I meant was, I saw you before today. In Europe." The embarrassment in her eyes turned to confusion.

"In Europe?" she repeated. I took a deep breath. _Please don't let her think I'm a crazy stalker_.

"The first time I saw you was in Paris. I was doing a press conference outside the Louvre and I saw you standing in the line." Her eyes widened but she didn't say anything. "The next time, I was driving down a street in Rome and you were walking along with a camera. The last time I saw you, was at Heathrow airport. You and your friend were running late for your flight." Bella was silent, she just looked at me with slightly shocked eyes.

"Bella? Say something, please," I almost begged, once the silence became unbearable.

"How do you know it was me?" she asked and I chuckled lightly.

"You're pretty hard to forget," I admitted. To my surprise, she started laughing and pushed my shoulder.

"Nice try," she giggled at me.

"Huh?" Now I was the confused one.

"I just told you that I'd been to all those places. You may be a good actor, but you can't fool me that easily. Again," she added as an afterthought.

"But – I did! I saw you each time. I've been doing the promo circuit around Europe for a film, I was in those cities as well,"

"Alright then, Edward Cullen, prove it." As soon as she said my full name, I realised why she didn't believe me. She didn't think _Edward Cullen: Superstar_ would notice her.

"Okay. The first time, at the Louvre. You had a book in your hand, I think it was a Lonely Planet guide,"

"Pfft, any tourist could have a Lonely Planet guide. Lucky guess," she scoffed.

"You wore a navy blue silk blouse and carried a cream purse. It looked like you were irritated by the crowds. You were with your friend and it was about two in the afternoon," I told her. Maybe a bit smugly. "In Rome, the streets were busy, and I was in a taxi. I don't know the name of the street, but it seemed like a tourist area. There were two nuns walking along next to a small park,"

"There are nuns everywhere in Rome," she said, but she sounded a lot more uncertain than she had a minute ago.

"At Heathrow, you were running late for your flight and you only just made it. Your friend – Angela – was just behind you and you were shouting at her to hurry up. Gate 15, Heathrow to Seattle via New York," I waited for a minute to let her absorb this information.

"Were you...following me?" she asked, confused.

"No – my promo tour just had me going to some of the same cities as you." We sat in silence a little longer.

"I was hoping I would see you again," I told her, taking one of her hands in both of mine.

"Why are you telling me this?" Bella's chocolate eyes met mine and I was lost.

"Edward?" she asked tentatively and the connection was broken.

"I wanted to be honest with you,"

"Why?"

"Because I'd like to see you again," I whispered and I blushed – _blushed!_ – like I was asking the prettiest girl in school to the fucking prom or something.

"Are you blushing?" she asked with an incredulous smile on her face.

"No," I mumbled, blushing even more. _Shit!_

"I didn't see you," Bella told me quietly after a brief pause.

"I know. Every time I saw you I wanted to talk to you but you were too far away,"

"Is that why you threw coffee on me? To make me see you?" She had a teasing tone to her voice but her eyes told me she was a little freaked out by my disclosures.

"No – I swear to God, the coffee and the bathroom were both accidents, although I'm not complaining. Maybe fate was growing tired of me losing you every time I saw you so decided to throw in a helping hand,"

"Fate?" Bella asked, looking at me strangely. _Way to put your foot in it, Cullen. Why not just declare your undying love and ask her to marry you and have your babies? Hmmm, Bella in a white dress...Bella pregnant with my child...Shit, snap out of it dude!_

Before I had a chance to answer, there was a knock on the front door.

"Housekeeping!" a voice called. _Time's up_.

I stood up and held out my hand to help Bella up. She fussed with her towel and I groaned internally, willing myself not to get hard at the sight of her standing there with nothing but a thin towel between my hands and her soft skin. I turned back to the bathroom door when I heard the front door open and somebody make their way inside. I raised my hand to knock and let them know where we were but then stopped and turned back to Bella.

"Bella – can I see you tonight?" I asked quickly.

"Umm..." she looked torn. Oh right, she probably has better things to do on her first night in New York than spend it with a psycho stalker who practically attacked her in the lobby and then held her hostage in her own bathroom while spouting off things about fate and destiny.

"It's okay, don't worry. You've probably got plenty to do, of course, sorry," I mumbled at her.

"No, I don't have plans. Well, no plans apart from room service and a film," she looked up at me with what I thought was hope in her eyes.

"Can I – do you mind if I...join you?" I asked hesitantly. A beautiful smile broke across her face and she blushed.

"Sure...if you like...that would be nice," I smiled back at her for a few seconds before realising our escape route would soon be walking out the door.

"Excuse me? Hello?" I called as I hammered on the door. "Could you please open the bathroom door?" A few seconds later, the door opened and a middle aged lady in a maid's uniform opened the door.

"Thank you so much," I told her as she looked at us in surprise. "Errr...the door handle broke from the inside, please just charge it to my room," I explained. I turned to Bella.

"Love, I need to let my family know where I am, they were expecting me an hour ago. Is it okay if I come back in an hour?" Bella smiled and nodded and before I realised what I was doing, I reached out and ran the backs of my fingers across her cheek from her ear to the corner of her mouth.

"I'll see you soon," I whispered before I left, my fingers tingling from her touch.


End file.
